Free stuff is good stuff... (freestuffjunction.co.uk)

Member Name: annaroos1

Product:	freestuffjunction.co.uk
Date:	28/07/06 (436 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free stuff

Disadvantages: it doesn't always work the way it's supposed to

I found this website when I was looking for paid survey sites. As always, the word free drew my attention and I decided to have a look. I was not very impressed with the page I landed on as the layout looks pretty amateurish and there is nothing that immediately draws your eye. However, this is something you soon get used to and it is well worth the effort.

Free Stuff Junction is a website dedicated to going through freebies on the internet to find the best ones and the ones that actually work. The links are then collected and presented on freestuffjunction.co.uk together with a description of what they are. The website was set up in the UK in 2000 and has grown steadily ever since. Apparently it is now one of the leading free stuff websites in the UK and its founder and owner, Edward Chapman is now able to work full time on it. This means that the website can be updated several times daily. Indeed, links often seem to be tested and there will often be a date after them to say that they were working at that time. There is also a user ‘dead link’ reporter keeping the site up to date. There is none of the normal information about how they actually make their money; my guess is that it works by companies paying a certain amount for each referral by Free Stuff Junction and probably also through certain advertising on the website. This is not a fact, however, so don’t quote me on it!

There is no need to sign up to the website, but you may wish to sign up for the free email which you will receive once a week telling you about any new freebies. The website itself is certainly not difficult to navigate, although it looks quite unprofessional. The homepage contains a top ten of freebies. At the moment (May 2006) these include £50 free if you join First Direct, a Ryanair credit card with free flights and 30 days free DVD rentals at Screen Select. To be honest, the top 10 doesn’t seem to change much and I have not found what I think is the best free stuff on there, as much of it requires you to sign up to clubs or change your bank account or credit card. Next to the top ten you have the latest of the best free stuff. This is a mix of different categories and is what I normally have a look at as there is a greater chance that they have not run out of whatever they are offering and that the links are still running. New products at the moment are tickets for Thank You for Smoking - a new comedy, free sample of DVD-R discs and free Boss skin sample for men to name but a few. As you can see there really is a great range of products on offer. If you wish you can also click on the categories to the left. There are 20 of them ranging from Audio & Video to Windows freeware and there seems to be something for everyone here. The page also contains a section called bargains which includes credit cards and cheap phone calls. I don’t tend to look as this much as it is not free stuff and not really the best deals around either as far as I can tell. However, it might be useful for some.

In order to claim your freebie, you normally just click on the link which will take you to the manufacturer’s website. You will likely have to give some basic information about yourself, obviously your name and address but often also some information about your household, its income etc. Most of the time you will have the option to state whether you would like to receive some more information about the company such as weekly emails. Generally you will have the option to say no, and you will still receive the product you are after. Once you have filled in all the details and sent it off it will normally take a few weeks before you get your free stuff; I once received a product after 3 months, so don’t give up hope…Some of the products are not sent out to you: they may just involve you printing off a voucher from a website but sometimes you even have to go somewhere to pick up your freebie. If the product is no longer available the company will normally send you and email but sometimes you will never hear from them again - how very professional!

I have found that the website really does get updated regularly and it’s well worth popping in once a day or so to see what new links they have. If you wait for too long it is likely that the product will have run out and you won’t get anything. So far I have tried to get cinema tickets twice but I have not managed to get any as they have run out. However, I have managed to lay my hands on some beauty products, such as Biore’ pore strips and John Frieda products and also some free recipe magazines which I have found useful. Often the samples are small but I find them useful as I like to try skin care products before I buy them.

In all I think it is well worth to have a look at Free Stuff Junction every now and again. There are some really good, free stuff on there, and all you have to do to receive it is to fill in a few details about yourself (and then wait for a few weeks…) – not too much like hard work, is it?

Summary: You can get some good stuff for free if you can be bothered to fill in the forms